Comments on: The End of Anonymity?

By: irasali

irasali — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:11:25 +0000

i still struggle with the idea of integrating my name with my blog name. its happened via links. i’m sure if someone wants to let their fingers do the walking they can figure it out. i’m trying to decide how i feel about it. i’m meeting a lot more people via my business and i think i’m craving a bit of anonimity. which is why i’ve considered blog suicide, or purging of old blog entries lately. a reporter that interviewed me for my business once told me she found my blog and that made me feel a bit violated.

By: medea

medea — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:44:37 +0000

Happened to me this year. When you suddenly become more accountable for what you start doing online, and when you begin working on outreach and getting blogging out there… it becomes important to have a name to stand behind what is getting written.

I don´t like for it to be obvious, I still write with my nickname, but then again, today I went out with some friends and people call me medea in person… I feel both characters begin to merge and the need for anonimity to subside.

By: Lo

Lo — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:33:01 +0000

Maybe as it relates to cyberspace the issue of convergent or anonymous identities is new: However pen names and pseudonyms have existed as long as the written word.

What I have had the most difficulty with is when people have read my/a blog, and then had to integrate that information without really having a conversation with me/or the author about it. Rather, made a unilateral decision based on what they read on the blog and reacted to it…that still trips me out.

Communication that is truthful, inclusive, and respectful seems to be an ongoing dialogue in any medium

By: Julissa

Julissa — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:48:26 +0000

I too am in agreement with Grohol’s quote. I often get so upset while reading the Detroit Free Press. The newspaper has recently added comments section to every article and it drives me nuts to see the hate, racism come out under psuedonym’s. It’s disgusting.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:12:11 +0000

Chris, good point. I have posted occasionally on both religion and politics but am lucky to have an employer that doesn’t see it as a conflict of interest (very lucky, I’d say). The question is, what happens if/when I move to another job (in the 30+ years left before I can even think of retiring)? I think the loss of free speech when it comes to employers makes anonymous blogging more necessary.

By: ChrisN

ChrisN — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:14:25 +0000

Good post, something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I’m sort of middle of the road on this topic I think. I know some people that are shocked I would post photos of my family online, or even my full name. While I have linked myself to my online presence for a while, I’ve mostly relied on people being uninterested in digging through my junk. Though I think my attitude has been changing as I’ve been easier to find on google – my common name used to provide some protection that way.

But at the same time I’m not completely open either; I’ve edited and held back. Generally I treat my site as an open letter, rather than a diary. This means I won’t post on certain topics (religion & protests for example) to avoid drama with people I know, or potential employers. And I certainly don’t have the cojones to put myself out there emotionally.

By: cindylu

cindylu — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:01:35 +0000

I gave up a while ago on keeping the last name hidden. If you search for me under first and last name, the blog comes up. Oh well. Moving from being Cindylu (which I still prefer) to Cindy Mosqueda — which came when I started writing with blogging.la — wasn’t so bad, but it has changed what I write about. However, this change also came at the same that people in “real life” such as family and school friends started finding out about my blog. It’s no longer as private as it was when I was just rambling on Diaryland, but I don’t mind the trade off.

About jobs, I’ve read some interesting things out there about academics who blog and how it may hurt them when it comes to the job (read: professor) search. I’ve also seen other academics in training, such as danah boyd, get their work out far and wide beyond journals and conferences through their websites. I’d like to do both.

I also hate the fact that there are a lot of people who hide behind anonymity online to post really horrible things. Sure, free speech is important but I generally behave and interact online with people the same as I do in “real life.”

By: cad

cad — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:16:57 +0000

I started blogging before it was known as “blogging,” in 2000! I still actually blog on an online journal community where I’m known as something else other then cad or Claudia. I remember for years this one online friend knowing me as my blogging name and when he finally found out my name was Claudia he was shocked!

Why would that be the case? Was I the only weirdo online who wanted to be incognito? Of course not, he was the weirdo, not me! LOL

It wasn’t until later in my life when I became more open to share my real name and that started when I signed up for flickr. More then anything I want credit for my work. I wanted people to know who I am rather then think of me as just another anonymous person on the net. I think that’s what it ends up being for most artists who use the Internet as their source of getting their art to the public.

By: HispanicPundit

HispanicPundit — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:29:05 +0000

Not just in chat either, I’ve heard horror stories from others about their experience in meeting woman from Myspace in person – apparently, even pictures can be highly deceiving.

By: logtar

logtar — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:20:17 +0000

I wish I could take credit for the marriage of my online and persona, but it was actually a local message board and a horrible online experience.

I had not had a problem divulging my actual name to people I met online, there was no need for me to hide my real identity. However, as I started to write and read on a message board I started to realize how many people use an internet persona as an outlet for anger, racism and many other horrible sides of their personality. While the board did not require people to identify themselves, someone there started to ask all of us for our first names… at first I did not understand, but little by little I realized that the use of just my first name brought a new level of accountability… Logtar was John…

The hard part for me has always been that Logtar is more a part of who John is… a small part. John is the actual individual, Logtar is just a little glimpse into who I really am.

I used to not chat with anyone unless I had met them in person because of how much people can lie online and not feel accountable.

I remember two horrible experiences I had when meeting someone I thought I knew online and the individual they really are. Since then, I try to meet as many of the people I call friends right away.